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west coast living, east side boy

Nirvana

Well, it certainly has been a while since I’ve last posted on here! A lot has changed since January 5 … and I guess I should frame this post, as if I’m speaking to a friend I’ve yet to catch up with. How should we start …

Firstly, I guess a lot of these conversations would begin with the standard: “How are you?” To which I’d reply with: “Good!”

Secondly, you’d probably follow that up with a perturbed look, blink once or twice, and press me for details with a more eloquently phrased question. Perhaps, something along the lines of, “So, what do you do now?” And here I’d rush on with a brief summary of the work life:

“Well, last month, I went to one of the Conferences my company puts on, in San Jose, for a week. And then before I came back home, I was in San Francisco for a weekend.”

At this point, your brain more likely than not breathes a tiny sigh of relief: now, we can get into a more interesting topic: “How did you find San Fran?”

Rather than bore you with the mundane details of my trip, this would be a good time for a flood of selectively-filtered (or not … can’t you tell I’m lazy as it is?) photos:

Driving around in San Francisco may be a nightmare, but you’re rewarded with shots like this

Ghiradelli Square, home of the famous (?) chocolates

A classic view of San Francisco

Pier 39

Rolling hills of Austr- I mean, Union Square Park

A poorly taken panorama of the Golden Gate bridge

Palm Trees in San Jose

Sea Lions lounging at Pier 39

The zen-like architecture and design of Japantown

Adorable crepes found in Japantown

Chinatown – a reminder of what Vancouver’s ghost town of a Chinatown once was

San Francisco is a gorgeous city, with beautiful views, thanks to the rolling hills. I’d like to think of it as what Vancouver could be if it endeavoured to utilize every square foot of space possible; the homes are historical, but exquisite in their personal, particular details. The collection of food is amazing; nightlife is unique and the weather was a welcome respite from the rain back home here in Vancouver. But the one thing (the one item) that would stop me entirely from moving to San Francisco is the atrocious lack of parking. SF … what is this? How is it even possible that to find parking for one’s home, you have to circle a city block ten times?! Ah well. I suppose it’s for the best I’m back home in Vancouver. You can’t win ’em all.

“What else has happened?” you may ask after the onslaught of details that you may care to listen to (if you’ve been to San Fran) or not (in which case, you’d meekly nod and proceed to find something we actually have in common). I’d probably take this time to let you know I recently turned 24 and stop myself from going into the tired schtick of bemoaning how geriatric someone who’s not in their mid-twenties could possibly feel.

Other than that, life has been great. I definitely know I’d like to get back into UBC for a Master’s, and I want to dedicate the rest of my life in academia. 18 years of being a student has definitely kept me in a rut – and a rut I have no desire to crawl out of, into the primordial ooze of the “real world”. All jokes aside, the 9-5 life is one worth traversing into – but it’s one that many graduates have to experience for themselves before they can proudly say they’re ready for the “real world”. I could write a post for new graduates about what to expect, but how much help can someone really offer without sounding like a simply-written and click-baited ThoughtCatalog list? I think it’s more important for new graduates to discover for themselves what life outside of a schedule of lectures feels like.

To conclude, I titled this post Nirvana, because while I may not feel the exact definition of this blessed state, I think I’ve reached a pinnacle in my life. On a personal level, everything has been so calm, it feels like I could be in the eye of the storm. For the first time in a long time, taking days one at a time isn’t the calamity-inducing endeavour it once was. I think I’m comfortable with who I am, the friends (old and new) I have, and am proud to say out loud that I’ve fallen in love … with my bed (seriously, if the world got a little more sleep, we’d all be happier). I feel at ease; if I could describe this state of mind, I’d liken it to fitting comfortably into an oh-so-Vancouver-esque pair of form-fitting silky yoga pants.